Ai Weiwei`s Blog (Paperback)

In 2006, even though he could barely type, China’s most famous artist started blogging. For more than three years, Ai Weiwei turned out a steady stream of scathing social commentary, criticism of government policy, thoughts on art and architecture, and autobiographical writings. He wrote about the Sichuan earthquake (and posted a list of the schoolchildren who died because of the government’s “tofu-dregs engineering”), reminisced about Andy Warhol and the East Village art scene, described the irony of being investigated for “fraud” by the Ministry of Public Security, made a modest proposal for tax collection. Then, on June 1, 2009, Chinese authorities shut down the blog. This book offers a collection of Ai’s notorious online writings translated into English--the most complete, public documentation of the original Chinese blog available in any language.

The New York Times called Ai “a figure of Warholian celebrity.” He is a leading figure on the international art scene, a regular in museums and biennials, but in China he is a manifold and controversial presence: artist, architect, curator, social critic, justice-seeker. He was a consultant on the design of the famous “Bird’s Nest” stadium but called for an Olympic boycott; he received a Chinese Contemporary Art “lifetime achievement award” in 2008 but was beaten by the police in connection with his “citizen investigation” of earthquake casualties in 2009. Ai Weiwei`s Blog documents Ai’s passion, his genius, his hubris, his righteous anger, and his vision for China.

Author:

Weiwei, Ai

ISBN:

9780262015219

Format:

Paperback

Pages:

307

Publish Date:

03/18/2011

Publisher:

Mit Pr

Language:

English

Portions copyright 2005 Muze Inc. All rights reserved.